


Invisible Physically, But Not Emotionally

by BlueBird_1323



Series: Elemental Master Escapades [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hangover, Happy Ending, Headcanon Backstory, Mentions of alcohol, Mostly Fluff, References to Another LEGO Theme, Self Confidence Issues, Swearing, all characters are adults, minimal angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28618710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueBird_1323/pseuds/BlueBird_1323
Summary: Paleman wakes up with little to no memory of a party that he and other elemental masters were at. With his ego at a huge low, he finds comfort in an unlikely source.In other words, a fic purely about Paleman and Neuro getting closer
Series: Elemental Master Escapades [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121546
Comments: 19
Kudos: 14





	1. A Horrible Start to the Day

Paleman slowly opened his eyes, letting out a quiet groan and holding onto his head. From what he could remember in that moment, he had a party with some of the other adult elemental masters, and things _may_ have gotten a bit out of hand. He knew alcohol had been involved, and a lot of it, and Paleman could only assume that he was one of the many victims.

His eyelids felt like concrete when he blinked, his vision blurring in and out of focus with each movement. He groaned again, shifting and attempting to sit up, but an oppressive pain quickly zapped through his head, resulting in his urge to get up completely disappearing. Where even was he? He forced his eyes open and squinted around the room, trying to find something that could even hint at where the Hell he was. 

His eyes were immediately drawn to the neon green and bright purple on a nearby couch. He never realized how much Tox and Chamille’s clothing choices could hurt the eyes, though that may be his hangover talking. Next he noticed Shade, sitting up against a nearby wall, still out for the count. Paleman shivered subconsciously. Even when Shade was passed out, he still creeped Pale out. And finally, his weary eyes fell on Ash, sprawled out and snoring in the middle of the room. 

But the room itself was trashed — with cups, pieces of clothing, general garbage, and who knows what else was everywhere. Paleman frowned. This was going to be so hard to clean up with everyone being hungover, even if they were all elemental masters. 

With much more effort than it should have needed, Paleman rolled onto his back — as he realized he had been laying on a couch — and as much as he hated to admit it, he knew he had to get up at some point. He couldn’t just lay here, as much as his body and brain screamed at him not to move, and as tempting it was to just close his eyes and fall back asleep. 

“This is going to be like ripping off a bandaid.” He whispered to himself, his surprisingly raspy voice being much louder than he expected in the near silent room. “C’mon Paleman”, he groaned, propping himself up on his elbow slowly, “you’ve been through worse. Don’t let some...some drink get the better of you.”

With that bit of pressure, as well with a gathering of all his energy, he lurched himself forwards and sat up. And with sitting up, the pressure of a thousand bricks hit his head. He hissed sharply through his teeth and gripped the couch until he swore his knuckles would’ve turned white if his skin wasn’t invisible. He took a few, albeit long, seconds to regain himself before soldiering on and swinging his legs around and planting his feet on the floor. The room began to spin instantly, and the idea of laying back down was becoming more and more favourable by the second.

“I’m never doing this again. Never again. And if I ever do it again, I’m doing it at home where I can actually stay in a bed.” He grumbled, tightly closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to stop his swirling vision. With a swift, and instantly regrettable move, he stood much more quickly than he had wanted to.

“Fuck!-“ He exclaimed a bit too loudly, grabbing onto his throbbing head with one hand and clutching onto the couch with the other. Vertigo overcame him in an instant and his throat burned of stomach acid.

He stood there for what felt like forever, waves of nausea washing over him every minute or so, but gradually faded as he waited. After a few blinks, his eyes focused on a nearby door. If Pale could recall, that should be the bathroom.

“Well...” He groaned, “might as well go somewhere I can vomit if I need to.” With a small shrug of his shoulders and another push of motivation, he stumbled and staggered down the hall, trying his best to not fall flat on his face as he navigated around the trash and occasional piece of overturned furniture. However, the sight of a _very_ familiar hat caught his attention.

Griffin was resting against one of the pieces of furniture he had made a brief note of, his sunglasses half way down his nose and one of his sneakers being completely gone. But what had caught Paleman’s attention was his own hat placed on Griffin’s head.

“Griffin... dumbass.” Pale grumbled, snatching the hat off his head. “That’s mine, thank you very much.” Of course Griffin didn’t respond, as he was passed out, and Paleman realized how idiotic he sounded. “Just glad no one’s awake.” He brushed off his hat as he continued to walk, cringing at the mere idea of Griffin getting it dirty. 

Somehow, by the power of the First Spinjitsu Master, the bathroom had remained clean throughout last night’s party, Paleman thought. However, it still stunk of that... _unique_ smell of a bathroom after a party where drinks were in abundance. 

The familiar nag of worry picked in his stomach, though that may have been nausea as well. He rested his elbows on the sink, holding his head in his hands. His headache throbbed in a steady beat that only made his nausea and uneasiness worse. He knew this feeling more than he wanted to admit, and that if he gave in, it usually just ended in a blow to his self-esteem. After a minute or two, he sighed heavily.

“Okay fine,” he hissed, “Fine, I’ll just...just look at myself once. No one will see, and... geez, here I am talking to myself again.” Pale grumbled, straightening up slowly and looking into what existed of his reflexion in the bathroom mirror. With a quick, albeit careful look over his shoulder, he double checked to make sure no one else was awake, and turned back to the mirror.

He took off his sunglasses as he stared into the blank reflection, squinting his eyes in a desperate attempt to adapt to the sudden light. _Ironic,_ he thought, _the master of light getting hurt by light._ He laughed bitterly at that and placed both hands on the bathroom counter. Deeply concentrating on his appearance, a dull flash occurred and slowly but surely, Paleman’s features returned from their invisibility. 

For once, his face now stared back at him. 

He couldn’t help but cringe. He had been disguising himself for so long now that the look of his own face made him feel uneasy. Unwillingly, he pushed those feelings away and leaned in closer to the mirror, examining the details of his face. Since he had been spending more and more time with the ninja and the elemental masters, he had less time to himself and less time to care about how he actually looked. He was paler than usual and had dark bags under his eyes, probably both from the hangover and the exhaustion of being around people so much.

“I look awful...” he said quietly, rubbing his chin tenderly. _Great, another punch to my faltering ego_ , Paleman thought.

“I’m glad to see that someone else is awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Ninjago fic, so I hope everyone is enjoying it thus far! The elemental masters have a special place in my heart lol. Comments are welcome :)


	2. An Unexpected Invitation

Paleman let out a quiet but harsh yelp, panic surging through his body as he quickly became invisible once more, and luckily just in time. Walking to the doorway of the bathroom was Neuro, a small smile on his face and looking surprisingly sober. Paleman scowled, though no one would’ve been able to tell.

“Not nice to sneak up on people like that, Neuro...” he mumbled quietly as he slipped his sunglasses back on, his clothes returning to visibility. “Yeah, sure... I do that by accident sometimes, but... ya know.” He gestured vaguely to himself. 

“I understand.” Neuro laughed gently, “I didn’t mean to frighten you. In all honesty, I’m just glad I have some company. Once you all had passed out, I was left alone for the entire night.” He trailed off a little, his smile turning into frown. Paleman felt a punch of guilt to his stomach.

“Sorry about that... um...” he trailed off as well, though despite as bad as he felt, something else was on his mind. “Did-... did you see me? Like before you walked in?”

Neuro looked a bit surprised at this question, his eyebrows raising, but shook his head. “No, I didn’t. And before you ask, I was not looking into your mind either.” He said gently, following with a warm smile. Paleman did his best to return the smile, but gave up halfway through knowing that Neuro wouldn’t see it.

 _That was nice of him to mention that_. Paleman thought, _that was just about to be my next question... wait a minute—_

“Hey..!” He balled his fists at his side, narrowing his eyes. Neuro simply gave him a knowing smile and turned away, walking back down the hall. Pale grumbled and sighed, putting his hat back onto his head. As much as he wanted to just crawl away into a dark corner somewhere, he knew that having some company was better for him. Cautiously, Paleman began to follow Neuro. “So um... Neuro, where-... where are you going?”

“Well,” he began, “there is a place in this building that I like to go to find some quiet, fresh air, and time for myself.” Paleman began to open his mouth to respond but Neuro continued to talk. “Would you like to come with me?”

Paleman stopped and shifted slightly in his spot. While he was good friends with some of the elemental masters, like Tox for example, when everyone got riled up he often was left out due to his shy nature. So whenever someone actually invited to do something, it always caught him off guard. He looked down, rubbing the side of his arm.

“Uh... is that okay if I do?” He mustered out quietly.

Neuro stopped and turned to him, a look of both sympathy and pity on his face. Paleman hated that look. “Of course. I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it, Paleman.”

“Yeah well, sometimes people _do_ offer and _don’t_ mean it.” He grumbled bitterly. 

Neuro sighed but gave a small but knowing nod. “Well... you do not have to come with me if you don’t want to, but I genuinely would enjoy your company.” A smile crossed his face before turning away, continuing to walk on.

Pale couldn’t help but fret and sigh as Neuro walked away. Neuro was mostly trustworthy, even with his mind reading abilities, and seemed like an honest guy, and didn’t seem like the type of person to lie. With the hope that he wouldn’t regret this, Paleman quickened his pace to catch up and match Neuro’s, walking alongside him in silence. In that moment, all he could really focus on was his continuously throbbing head, so he mindlessly followed Neuro through the building. While he did almost trip and fall on his face multiple times due to overturned furniture and dozing elemental masters, they made their ways to a small staircase without issue.

He could only groan seeing the stairs, leaning against the wall and massaging his temples. “I hate to sound like I’m ungrateful or something... but I _really_ don’t want to walk upwards.” Neuro didn’t answer him and simply continued on, walking up the stairs with ease. Paleman frowned in annoyance. “Where are we anyway?”

“You’ll see.” Neuro answered. Pale could practically hear the smile. He tried to look around Neuro, squinting his eyes in confusion as he made out what seemed to be a door at the top of the stairs.

“Uh-huh.”

“Trust me.” Neuro said gently, grabbing the door’s handle and opening it. The small corridor they were standing was suddenly glowing from the bright orange light from outside, being so bright it was like the sun decided to compact itself into one area. Pale stumbled back a few steps, shading his eyes away from the light and letting out an annoyed grumble in protestation. Neuro quickly turned around, flashing a very apologetic smile. “Ah, sorry. I-... should have thought that through.”

“... no issue.” Pale lied through gritted teeth, trying to squint up at him. The light from outside illuminated Neuro like some holy figure. He couldn’t help but let out a quick and nasally laugh at that thought.

Like when he woke up on the couch, he gathered all the energy he had left and trudged up the stairs, gripping onto a nearby railing as if his life depended on it. In all honesty, it kinda did. He felt like he could keel over at any second.

After fighting the incessant burning in his retinas, it finally occurred to him where he now stood. A cold yet revitalizing breeze had been blowing around them, and while not fresh, it brought him back to a time not too long ago. His eyes focused to this new light, and he now was gazing out onto the rooftops and skyscrapers of Ninjago City. The city glowed like the gentle light of candles, and the tall buildings now looked like towering, golden pillars that beamed into the clouds. His voice caught in his throat as he stared out, the pure beauty of it all leaving him speechless.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Neuro wondered aloud. All Pale could do was nod slowly, his tired and stuffy mind swelling with memories of melancholy.

“Yeah... it-... it reminds me of where I used to live.” He whispered.


	3. Another City, Another Story

Neuro turned to look at him, mild curiosity crossing onto his face. “Where is that?”

“Uh...” Paleman stalled, not especially wanting to tell. Though, now that he thought about it, Neuro probably knew already with the mind reading and all that. With a sigh, he sat down carefully on the shingles of the roof. “You wouldn’t know it, it’s kinda far away.”

“Oh? Well, there’s a chance I may know.” Neuro sat down next to him. “Try me.”

Pale groaned internally but nodded. “It’s uh-... it’s Astor City.” He admitted shyly.

The duo fell into an uncomfortable silence, regret inching it’s way slowly but surely into the back of Pale’s mind. He should’ve just kept quiet about the whole thing.

“You’re right.” Neuro laughed. “I don’t know that city. Is it in Ninjago?”

“Nah.”

“Wow.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m sure it must be nice there.” Neuro offered. Pale could only laugh and shake his head.

“Kinda. It uh... it has an interesting history.” He shrugged, fiddling with the end of his sleeve. “It’s very high tech, at least it was when I was still there. I miss that place sometimes.” He felt Neuro move closer and unconsciously moved away.

“Have you ever... thought about going back?”

He knew that question was coming and began to regret coming up here. After stabilizing his voice, Paleman responded quietly. “Yeah, of course I have. It’s just uh... a bit difficult...” he trailed off, taking a moment to reevaluate what he was about to say. “Uh, Neuro, you are trust worthy, right?”

_You’re a complete idiot_ , he thought to himself.

Neuro seemed a little taken back by this question, and Paleman could just _tell_ that he hurt his feelings. He really was an idiot.

“I know I cannot make you trust me, and I understand if you don’t. But, you have my word that I will not make fun of you or tell anyone else about this conversation.” Neuro paused, his face softening. “I promise.”

It took a moment for these words to truly take affect. Pale’s thought process was delayed and clouded, pulling his legs tightly to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. Neuro said it himself, he understood if he didn’t trust him, but some small part of him desperately wanted to believe that. What he’d give to have someone, anyone, to just talk to without the fear of being ignored after some time. Sure, Tox was good, great even, but she never understood his plight fully.

“... thanks.” He finally answered, looking away. He could practically feel Neuro’s eyes burning into the back of his head. That, or maybe he was finally feeling Neuro’s mind reading. 

“Are you and Tox close?” Neuro ventured. Yep, he _definitely_ was reading his mind in some way. His cheeks heated and in response, pulled his coat up closer to his face, scrunching his neck down. Oh how he _hated_ when people asked him about Tox.

“I think you already know...” Paleman mumbled, but decided to answer. “Yeah. We know each other. We uh... we have history together in Astor City. Met there under some... _weird_ circumstances.” He peeked over his collar, trying to read Neuro’s expression. He appeared to be neutral and calm, but interested. “So um... after that, we’ve been really close. She was the one who brought me here in the first place, though I have travelled here before, and I guess I just kinda clung onto her.” He finished, giving a passive shrug.

“I’m glad to know that you have an ally. You often stick to your lonesome, so it’s nice to know she’s there for you.” Neuro added. A smile began to grow on his own face reluctantly.

“Heh... an ally is a weird term for her. She’s like... a teammate, honestly. A sibling maybe? No, that sounds weird—“ Paleman laughed sheepishly, placing his head in his hands. “I-... I just trust her a lot, you know? She has my back and I have her’s, though in all honesty she mostly stands up for me. I rarely need to do anything for her.” He snickered a little, his body unwinding slowly. And much to his joy, Neuro laughed along too.

It had felt like forever since he could actually relax while talking with someone else out of his one-person friend group. It was surreal and alien, but Pale didn’t mind at all. It was a refreshing emotion besides self loathing.

“She’s quite a character.” Neuro chuckled. “I’m glad that you both get along despite your differences.”

“Pft, I think you mean that we’re sheer opposites.” Pale found himself blurting out. “On first glance, I’m what you’d call shy, quiet, easily pushed around, while Tox is confident and she definitely doesn’t take shit from others.” He listed, grinning as he finished off the sentence. 

His eyes made their way back to looking out on the city once more. While Neuro _probably_ couldn’t tell, his expression softened as he thought about his and Tox’s friendship. Despite all the shit that they had gone through together, they really did make it out alive and in one piece. His mind began to wander, thinking about her during the party. Of course, it was just a blank memory. What had he been expecting? Hell, he didn’t remember much...

Oh geez, he didn’t remember anything at all-

The serenity that had been flowing through his body effortlessly drained away, and was instantly replaced with a surge of panic. What if he had showed himself to the others while he was wasted? What else could he have done?

“Hey uh-... this is a really weird but super important question, but uh, did-... last night, did I turn visible at any point?” He pleaded, voice shaking as he whipped around a _bit_ too quickly to face Neuro. His head screamed for him to lay down and close his eyes, but the panic easily drowned it out.

Neuro jumped, looking confused and slightly dumbfounded for a split second. His calming voice greatly contradicted his expression. “No, not at all. Out of everyone present, you caused the least amount of trouble. At some points, your clothes would flicker in and out of visibility, but never any of your skin.”

“Oh good—“

“However...” He continued, his expression slowly turning into an awkward and sheepish smile.

“Oh _fuck_.”


	4. Regrettable Knowledge

“What did I do?” Paleman asked, peeking though his fingers. He instantly regretted asking once he saw how Neuro’s face twisted as he looked for the proper wording.

“It was nothing too severe!” Neuro frantically got out, shooting him a nervous smile. “There was a karaoke that happened. You walked up to the microphone with a confidence I’ve never seen before in you, and sang very well without shame. Ah, no offense of that confidence remark.”

“... none taken.” He said reluctantly, pulling his hands down from his face. He then asked another question he instantly regretted. “Was uh... was that it? Just singing?”

“Well...” his companion mustered out, an uncomfortable look creeping onto his face. Panic hit him faster than his hangover did earlier. “You er... um, how do I word this? You did try to... come onto a few of the others. Flirt, if you will.” Neuro’s face was bright red.

“Oh no... no, no, no!” Paleman groaned, his voice cracking as he covered his face again. His cheeks and ears burned like they were on fire and his hands shook and trembled as he cupped his face, embarrassment convulsing through his entire body. Unconsciously slipping into invisibility, Pale shrunk back down into his coat and whimpered out a few curses. He didn’t want to look back at Neuro, with his pitying look, and didn’t want to talk anymore either. He wanted to go downstairs, find his keys, and ditch the place to go back home and wallow in his misery. Alone.

Hell, he didn’t want to talk to any of the other elemental masters after this. He’d be a laughing stock, more than he already was to some of them...

Neuro gingerly went to where he assumed Pale’s shoulder was. “Some will forget what happened.”

“Yeah, well some _won’t!_ ” He snapped, yanking his shoulder away and curling his knees against his chest harder. Guilt replaced his panic for having just exploded like that, but his intense humiliation was a force to be reckoned with. This only made it certain that he’d never drink in front of anyone ever again. Even Tox.

He heard Neuro sigh heavily, Pale still refusing to look at him, and he began to spoke in a much more serious tone. “One time, I made a fool out of myself in front of others when I was younger. I was cocky with my powers at that age, and well... things didn’t go well.” Paleman felt his attention refocus as Neuro talked, sending him a careful glance and breathing slowly, not daring to make a sound. Neuro met his gaze, and he honestly felt a bit unnerved having someone lock eyes with him while invisible. “We all have done things that we are not proud of, and while I cannot guarantee that everyone will forget what happened, I am assuming the majority of them will.” Neuro went for Pale’s shoulder once more, and this time Paleman stayed in place and felt a gentle and comforting squeeze. 

His cheeks lit up again but he nodded slowly, though Neuro wouldn’t be able to tell, and slowly reappeared.

“Th-... thanks Neuro. I um... I overreacted a little, probably the hangover’s fault haha.” He mumbled quietly, a smile inching across his face. “I-I’m smiling right now, by the way.” He clarified with a laugh. “Also, thanks for like, opening up like that. It um... it helped.” His voice faltered as he spoke but tried hard to cover it up.

“As much as I don’t like opening up,” — Neuro smiled — “if it helps a friend, I’ll do it.”

Paleman felt his voice catch in his throat again at that word. Friend. Neuro thought of him as a friend.

... a friend?

“Are... you not used to having friends?” Neuro asked, filling the silence that came after that special word, _friend_.

“Eh, not-... not really, no. People don’t often look for me to hang out with. After some time I guess I got used to it.” He tried to say passively and shrugged, tipping his head to the side. Pale liked to pretend that it didn’t hurt as much as it did, but there was no denying what it had done to his personality and sense of self over the years. He felt very left out by the group of elemental masters, even though it mostly was his fault for being so withdrawn.

Neuro removed his hand from Paleman’s shoulder, giving one of those sympathetic and pitying looks again. He couldn’t help but cringe and narrow his eyes at that. “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t know.”

“Yes you did.”

“Alright, yes, I did, but still I am very sorry.” Neuro scrambled, smiling nervously. Guilt creeped it’s way back into Pale’s heart. _Shit._ He didn’t mean to make him upset again.

“Hey uh, Neuro, it’s okay. I know you can’t help your elemental powers sometimes. The same goes for me.” He tried to get out a small laugh. “I use my powers almost constantly. So uh, no hard feelings, alright?”

“I wouldn’t have had any feelings in the first place, but I agree.” Neuro said.

Paleman wasn’t too confident in that response but chuckled nonetheless, nodding slowly. It was beginning to dawn on him that he actually felt safe around Neuro. His friend. _Ironic,_ he thought, _someone who wants constant privacy is becoming friends with a mind reader._

A quick clearing of the throat cut his thoughts off short. Neuro smiled. “Er, I’m the master of the mind.”

“Oh, sorry. I need to stop—...” Paleman trailed off, narrowing his eyes again and turning to Neuro. “Hey! Can you stop doing that?”

“You think very loudly—“

“Ain’t that the truth!” A loud, female voice cut him off. 

Paleman had begun to open his mouth for a sassy retort when a familiar voice beat him to it. The two of them jumped. His stomach felt like it was in his chest as he whipped around too quickly once again to see who it was, or more so if his guess was correct. The throbbing started up once more in his head, but leaning against the doorway to the roof was Tox, a small and playful smirk on her lips.

Yep, he definitely was right.


	5. Maybe This isn’t so Horrible

Paleman wasn’t sure whether he felt even more relieved or slightly annoyed now that his partner in crime was here. Yes, of course he adored her, but she was too high energy for when he was hungover. However, he usually enjoyed having her around, as she often did the speaking which drew the attention away from himself.

“You love scaring me, don’t you?” He asked, trying hard to force his smile through his voice. Tox laughed at that remark, though not maliciously, and began to walk towards them. Pale found that with each step she made in her combat boots, there was an oddly heavy sounding clunk that made his sensitive ears twinge with pain. She plopped down on his other side, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer playfully. He scrunched his shoulders up close to his neck.

“I’m just making up for all the times you’ve scared me, Pale.” She stuck out her tongue cheekily, though her piercing shined obnoxiously in the light in Paleman’s eyes.

“Oh yeah, _sure—_ “

“I hate to interrupt this,” Neuro cut in, “but something is intriguing me slightly. Tox, shouldn’t you also be hungover at the moment? Last night you drank quite a lot from what I can remember.”

Tox stared at him blankly for a moment before bursting into loud laughter. Pale winced, especially seeing as she was so close, but couldn’t help and snicker at that question. He wouldn’t expect Neuro out of all people to ask that.

“I appreciate the concern,” Tox said after finally calming down, “but you’ve forgotten that I’m the master of poison. When it comes to chemicals and shit, my body is stronger than like, fifty oxen. Sure, I get a small high from it, but it doesn’t affect me for long.” She announced proudly. And from what Paleman had seen, she was certainly right about that. They had known each other so long, and he had seen her drink before. It was both impressive and unnerving at the same time.

“Oh.” Neuro’s face went blank. “Apologies.”

“Nah, there’s no need to.” Tox said, scooting forward to look across at him. “It’s chill. Plus, you wouldn’t have known.” She leaned back again, taking her arm off Paleman and stretching her arms above her head. “Anyways, there is a reason I came looking for you guys, besides wanting to hang out.”

“Oh?” Paleman asked. He could probably make some guesses as to why she came up here, but didn’t want to come to any conclusions just yet. Tox could be as unpredictable as a drunkard’s walk.

Ironic.

“Yeah. The place is trashed and I wanna _try_ being a decent person by at least cleaning some of it up as like one of the only sober and not hungover people here.” She sighed, hopping to her feet with ease and landing with another clunk that made Pale’s ears throb. However, once he processed her words, he groaned and laid back slowly onto the roof, sliding his hat over his face.

“Ugh. I don’t wanna. Head hurts too much.” He whined, though found himself smiling ever so slightly. Well, he had been until he felt the toe of a boot nudge him in the side. He lifted his hat up slightly with narrowed eyes to see Tox grinning and holding back laughter.

“Alright. Well, if you ever feel like helping, you’re more than free to come back down.” Tox chuckled, but directed her attention to Neuro. “Also, you’re the only other person here who can function, care to help?”

Of course she would ask Neuro to help. As much as he knew Tox would appreciate the help, and she how she enjoyed company, he couldn’t help but feel a bit selfish and wanted to keep Neuro up here with him. And sure, he enjoyed being alone, but there was some happiness and warmth inside his chest for just having Neuro be so open with him and be so genuine in a sense. After this, it was likely that he and Neuro wouldn’t talk much again unless he _really_ tried to reach out, but damn was that hard to do. He didn’t want Neuro to go right now, and plus he had to show... some form of gratitude to him for putting up with his emotional bullshit!

He had to act quick.

“Oh! Of course I will, just—“

“He um-... just a minute, Tox. He’ll be there in a minute. I might come down too.” He blurted out, sitting up. Embarrassment creeped slowly through his body as he felt their stares on him, and fought the urge the hide away in his coat once more.

Tox paused for a moment, regarding the two of them with a curious look before smiling. “Oh, okay!” And gave a thumbs up, turning back to the door and clunking down the stairs. And like that, she was gone.

And now he was alone with Neuro. Fuck.

He slowly looked back to Neuro and felt his mouth go dry. Neuro looked both so confused and understanding and it made his heart flutter anxiously. The words began leaving his mouth as if a dam broke.

“Neuro I’m sorry, I just-... listen I don’t know how to word this.”

“Paleman, it’s okay.” Neuro had held up his hand and Paleman fell silent instantly. “It’s okay, I understand. Take your time.”

The relief was like a wave washing over him. The content warmth in his body returned and he took a deep breath in, releasing it slowly after a few seconds. “Okay um... I think I’m good now. I really hope that this uh... doesn’t make you uncomfortable.” He said sheepishly.

“I’m sure it won’t.”

“Neuro, I just want to thank you. Genuinely. Like thank you for opening up, listening to me, and just... being there. Being a friend.” He paused while trying to ignore the heat in his face, glancing down at his shoes and then looking back to Neuro. “So um, thanks.”

One thing that Pale had picked up on by this time was how hard it was to read Neuro. He was like a walking contradiction from time to time, talking so calmly yet always seeming a bit on edge. But when it came to being a contradiction, he guessed that was just another thing they had in common, what with him being so withdrawn and so flashy at the same time.

This was just another scenario of Neuro being hard to read, with his expression shifting ever so slightly to something Pale just couldn’t place. But as Neuro began to stand up, it was now very clear that he was smiling.

“And I’d like to thank you for agreeing to come up here with me, Paleman. And I am grateful that you trust me enough to share what you have. Now here, let me help you up.” Paleman’s cheeks went hot again but he smiled, grabbing the hand that Neuro had extended down to him.

“I’m smiling, by the way.” He laughed quietly, getting pulled up. Neuro looked him in the eyes and nodded.

“I know. I can feel it.”

The two began making their way back down the stairs, Paleman quietly shutting the door behind them, letting the cool darkness envelop them once again. And yet, despite this, he felt warmth. While not physically, he felt it emotionally. It was overpowering, but not in an unpleasant way, but in a way that resembled the beginning of euphoria. Even when he still clutched onto the stairway railing for dear life, he was still happy. Even through his nasty headache, he felt calm.

Though now that he had concentrated on it again, it definitely was much worse. He could only laugh dryly, trying his best to stabilize himself as he moved down. “My head still hurts like I was run over by multiple trucks. Bet my rollercoaster of emotions didn’t help that.”

Neuro looked over his shoulder to Paleman, a look of what seemed to be playful understanding. “I’ll get you a glass of water once we’re down.”

“Thanks Neuro, means a lot.”

“Anything for a friend.”

_A friend._


End file.
